CVLB defends proposal on designated airport site for e-hailing cars

 

The Sabah CVLB says the designated site would streamline the management of e-hailing vehicles at KKIA. (Facebook pic)

KOTA KINABALU: The proposal for a designated site for e-hailing drivers to wait for customers at the international airport here was simply to ensure a more organised system was in place, the Sabah Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) said today.

Its chairman Chin Kim Hiung said the board wrote to the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) management on Dec 23 to propose a site.

He said if the proposal was implemented, e-hailing drivers would have a spot to pick up or drop off passengers who had booked their service.

“This proposal is intended to minimise traffic congestion as well as the waiting time,” he said in a statement here today.

“The management of e-hailing vehicles will also be more organised and be convenient for people.

“Any measures or decisions by me were made after due consideration, based on the authority given to me (as chairman) and by members of the Sabah CVLB.”

Chin had come under fire from the KKIA Limousine and Taxi Association, which had called for his resignation.

Its president Shamsuddin Mohd Shah had claimed that Chin had failed to resolve issues affecting association members, such as enforcing a ban on e-hailing drivers from operating at KKIA.

According to Shamsuddin, a decision was made in 2018 to ban e-hailing vehicles from waiting for passengers at KKIA, but the CVLB had yet to enforce it.

Instead, he said the e-hailing drivers now parked themselves in front of airport taxis to wait for customers.

He further claimed that Chin, instead of helping them, had submitted a letter to the KKIA management to allow such drivers to park their vehicles at the airport terminal.

Meanwhile, on objections from the association over city taxis operating at the airport, Chin confirmed that he had received an application from city taxi operators who wanted to pick up passengers from airports in the state.

“We will look at this matter in detail to ensure any decision will take into account the welfare and interest of all those concerned,” he said. - FMT